HOWTO Setup Witness Node by Yehey
Updated procedure using this article.
Step by step guide on how to setup a Witness Node. Please see my references at the end of this article. This is not just a server it is a Witness Node server.
You can manually install Steem but @someguy123 prepared STEEM-in-a-Box using Docker with technical add-on courtesy by @drakos and my screen captured installation guide to keep it simple stupid (KISS).
What Server Specification is recommended? I’ve tested it using a minimum requirement listed below. You can buy or rent your server, it’s up to you to decide.
- 4 CPU
- 64 GB RAM (recommend minimum) // Updated March 2, 2018. Last January 10, 2018 32GB is ok but not anymore.
- 300 GB SSD (100GB minimum)
I’m using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS for my operating system. I failed to install Steem using the latest version of Ubuntu 17.x, so this procedure is using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.
When I setup a Server or a workstation. I always set the date and time correct, so I can get a good event logs later on for trouble shooting.
I prefer using screen utility so I can open multiple session. If not installed, run these two command.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install screen
Install Linux Process Monitoring, to monitor CPU and Memory current usage.
apt-get install htop
Set your timezone, for me it’s EST (optional)
sudo timedatectl set-timezone America/New_York
Step 01. Install all dependencies.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install git curl wget
Step 02. Download Steem in the box courtesy by @someguy123 using git clone.
THIS IS IMPORTANT. Logout, re-login, then change directory to steem-docker.
cd steem-docker
Step 03. Let’s install docker.
./run.sh install_docker
You will see something like this captured screen.
Step 04. Pre-compile Steem.
./run.sh install
Step 05. Download a copy of blocks. This will take a some of hours depending on your server specifications.
./run.sh dlblocks
Step 06. Run the wallet.
./run.sh remote_wallet
Step 07. Create a key pair for your witness.
suggest_brain_key
After running suggest_brain_key, copy your wif_priv_key and pub_key you will use this later on.
Press CTRL + D to exit the wallet.
Step 08. Adjust your Witness server memory. MUST re-adjust if server upgrade it’s memory. DO NOT GIVE MORE SHARED MEMORY THAN YOU HAVE ACTUAL RAM AVAILABLE. e.g. In our server specification example, we are using 64GB RAM only use 63G for your shared memory.
sudo ./run.sh shm_size 63G
Step 09. Edit the config.ini file.
nano data/witness_node_data_dir/config.ini
Some data in config.ini file.
# p2p-endpoint = 0.0.0.0:2001
shared-file-size = 63G (my initial server is using 16G no longer sufficient)
shared-file-dir = /shm
witness = “yehey” <– change this using your Steem account ID.
# WIF PRIVATE KEY to be used by one or more witnesses or miners
private-key = 5KfKJ………….
Put in your witness name, and your WIF private key from earlier. Be aware the name needs quotes, while the private key doesn’t. You use the private key (wif_priv_key) you generated earlier using suggest_key_brain and put into notepad.
Step 10. To disable port forwarding for seeds:
nano .env
On a blank line, put the following:
PORTS=
DOCKER_NAME=witness
Step 11.
./run.sh replay
Check the logs, every 10 minutes. Use this command to see the current logs.
./run.sh logs
or if you want to be nerdy, use this command to see the logs in real-time
docker logs –tail=30 –follow witness
You will see something like this results.
You should see the logs below when it’s fully sync to the blockchain.
Your Witness Node server is ready. You’re not done, continue reading this article.
Running “top” (or htop if you installed it) will you an idea of your memory usage, see sample captured screen image below. This example shows 5.6% CPU and 89% MEM. The 89% utilization of Memory is too high if you ask me, but this is enough to run your Witness Node server. In humble opinion, you need to bring up your RAM to at least 64GB (as of March 2, 2018, updated from January 10, 2018).
I also check docker session, ps -aux | grep docker
That’s a normal operations of my Witness Node server.
Step 12. We are NOT done. Go to Steemit.com website, login to your account. Click on Wallet, Permission, click on Show Private Key. Your Active Private Key will appear as 5andSomeLongCharacter. Take note, your Active Private Key start in number 5 e.g. 5andSomeLongCharacter.
./run.sh wallet
Set a password, unlock the wallet with the same password, then import your ACTIVE private key from Steemit.com website.
For example.
set_password “MyAlph4Num4r1cP4ssw0rd”
unlock “MyAlph4Num4r1cP4ssw0rd”
import_key 5andSomeLongCharacter // this is your ACTIVE private key
Step 13. Finally, update your witness information on the network.
update_witness “yehey” “https://witness.yehey.org” “Public_Key_from_Suggest_Brain_Key” {“account_creation_fee”:”0.100 STEEM”,”maximum_block_size”:65536,”sbd_interest_rate”:0} true
If no error, congratulation to you as a Witness! Welcome to the STEEM Witness Club. If you received an “invalid state” error, your session timed out. Try it again, this time make it quick. Tips. I’ve used a notepad to prepare my update and paste it.
Now, vote for your self and yehey for Witness, go to https://steemit.com/~witnesses and vote for yehey.
As Witness, you are expected to send update for Price Feed. Thanks to @someguy123 there is a script ready to go.
Step 14. Installation of SteemFeed JS by @someguy123 or PriceFeed by @yabapmatt
First, download the git repository, then edit config.json as needed. The interval is in minutes.
In steem-docker folder
git clone https://github.com/Someguy123/steemfeed-js.git
cd steemfeed-js
cp config.example.json config.json
nano config.json
Sample config.json file. The Interval is 60 minutes, to send Price Feed update.
{
“node”: “wss://steemd.privex.io/”, // Added Jan 8, 2018 to point to new server.
“name”: “yehey”,
“wif”: “5KUKG…ACTIVE_PRIVATE_KEY”,
“interval”: 60
}
Optional Node Servers: At this time, you only need one in config.json file. I don’t know yet if you can put multiple servers.
“wss://gtg.steem.house:8090”
“wss://seed.bitcoiner.me”
“wss://rpc.buildteam.io”
“wss://steemd.pevo.science”
“wss://steemd.steemitstage.com”
I’ve learned from other Witnesses, complaining about Steemfeed-js frequently. Well, it’s not the end of the world. Here’s your alternative https://github.com/KINGdotNET/pricefeed, courtesy by @yabapmatt. Just follow the step-by-step procedure to set it up.
Step 15. Starting Steemfeed-js
cd steemfeed-js
docker build -t steemfeed-js .
docker run -itd –rm –name feed steemfeed-js
PLEASE NOTE: single dash itd double dash rm double dash name, the website theme is messing it up.
# Check the status with docker logs
docker logs feed
Got an error the first time running the docker logs feed, as shown below. Attempting to login account.
Waited to make sure the –replay-blockchain is fully synced, re-run the following command again.
docker build -t steemfeed-js .
docker run -itd –rm –name feed steemfeed-js
# Check the status with docker logs
docker logs feed
Checking your Price Feed update using @drakos https://steemian.info/witnesses website. Or go to https://steemdb.com/@yehey to check your price feed update. You will see mine updating every hour.
If you get an error running “docker logs feed”, exit SSH and re-login again and it will correct itself.
Re-run ps aux | grep docker to check docker session. You will see the 3rd docker session pid “6297” as shown below. It will be a different number on your server.
That’s all for now.
To find out when did you processed a block, visit https://steemdb.com/@yehey/blocks change @yehey using your account.
What’s Next? You need to advertise to your family and friends that you are now a Witness and ask them to vote for you. Give them reason why their votes matter and how you give back to the community.
Step 16. What to review to make sure your Witness server is configured correctly?
- In Step 07 you will run suggest_brain_key to produce keys for your witness server, a private and public.
- You will use the private key for your config.ini file in Step 09.
- You will use the public key to broadcast your intent as a Witness in Step 13.
- To verify, go to https://steemd.com/@yehey (replace @yehey with your witness name), scroll down ’till you see your Authorities Signing Keys. You should see your public key here. If not, go back and review the step by step procedures.
- When it’s done, go to https://steemian.info/witnesses website and find your Witness Name. See captured image below.
The blue color indicates the Witness server is ready to produce block. The crossed witness name in red, means a witness server under maintenance (offline) or a new witness waiting to produce it’s first block.
FYI. Ranking is very important, this is how you produce blocks, more blocks produced more Steem goes to your witness account. This is very important to advertise your witness intent and ask them to vote for you and me (@yehey) as their witness. If your rank is LOW, it will take days for you to produce 1 block. Question is can you afford to pay for Witness node per month producing 1 block in 24-72 hours? If YES, then continue to be a Witness make a better world. If No, you better spend your $$$ to buy Steem Power (SP) and create good content for a better reward.
How to check if you produce a block? Visit https://steemdb.com/@yehey (replace @yehey with your witness name) to check the producer_reward, see captured screen below. This automatically added to your witness account.
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The following procedures if you will upgrade your Witness Node server memory.
Upgrading my Witness Node server memory from 32GB to 48GB.
New server running at 48GB RAM.
./run.sh stop
sudo ./run.sh shm_size 46G
Edit config.ini in ~/steem-docker/data/witness_node_data_dir
shared-file-size = 46G
./run.sh replay
After synched.
docker build -t steemfeed-js .
docker run -itd –rm –name feed steemfeed-js // PLEASE NOTE: single dash itd double dash rm double dash name, the website theme is messing it up.
# Check the status with docker logs
docker logs feed
Check your server memory, record utilization.
Use “docker logs –tail=30 –follow witness” (two dash line) same result when your run “./run.sh logs” with –follow is to monitor logs in realtime (thanks to @drakos).
Run crontab to restart every two hours using the following command.
crontab -e
# Restart Docker feed every 2 hours everyday. Added 201710180005 by EM@QUE.com
0 */2 * * * docker restart feed
0 */2 * * * cd steemfeed-js && docker run -itd –rm –name feed steemfeed-js
To force Price Feed update:
docker rm -f feed
cd steemfeed-js
docker run -itd –rm –name feed steemfeed-js
docker logs feed
Some useful commands and websites to remember.
docker logs witness | grep yehey
https://steem.bitcoiner.me/schedule/?c=show200,includetop20
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For maintenance:
Disable the signing key first to avoid missing blocks. As recommended by @drakos check the timing, if u’re low in the rank and now scheduled soon, u can do your maintenance and not lose your turn.
update_witness “yehey” “https://steemit.com/witness-category/@yehey/My-Witness-Campaign” “STM1111111111111111111111111111111114T1Anm” {“account_creation_fee”:”0.100 STEEM”,”maximum_block_size”:65536,”sbd_interest_rate”:0} true
Press CTRL + d, to exit
./run.sh stop
update_witness “yehey” “https://steemit.com/witness-category/@yehey/My-Witness-Campaign” “Public_Key_from_Suggest_Brain_Key” {“account_creation_fee”:”0.100 STEEM”,”maximum_block_size”:65536,”sbd_interest_rate”:0} true
Press CTRL + d, to exit
./run.sh start – to begin running steemd replay again.
If “docker feed logs” not working. Here’s how to troubleshoot.
$ docker ps -a
CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES
76f821043793 steemfeed-js “npm start” About a minute ago Up About a minute feed
12506a870ff7 steem “steemd –replay” 2 days ago Up 2 days 2001/tcp, 5000/tcp, 8090/tcp witness
You should see two cointainer ID, for feed and witness. If the feed is not available running. Do the following.
-
- docker rm -f feed
-
- cd steemfeed-js
-
- docker run -itd –rm –name feed steemfeed-js // to re-run steemfeed-js
- docker logs feed // to run price feed.
Note: steemd.steemit.com has retired since Jan 6, 2018. Edit app.js file, change it using steemd.privex.io. or update the config.json file with the following entries.
{
“node”: “wss://steemd.privex.io/”, // Added Jan 8, 2018 to point to new server.
“name”: “yehey”,
“wif”: “5KUKG…ACTIVE_PRIVATE_KEY”,
“interval”: 60
}
Then, re-run the previous 4 steps.
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20171020 Install Conductor a Steem Witness Toolkit
$ steempy addkey
when prompted, paste your active key with shift-insert
Then use “steempy listkeys” to make sure it’s added, also “steempy listsaccounts”
$ steempy listkeys
$ steempy set nodes https://steemd.steemit.com,https://steemd.privex.io,https://gtg.steem.house:8090
$ conductor init
What is your witness account name?: yehey
Imported a witness yehey from its existing settings.
$ conductor feed
Fri Oct 20 16:52:28 2017
Old Price: 1.019
New Price: 1.002
Current STEEM price: 1.002 USD
Current SBD price: 0.942 USD
Quote: 1.000 STEEM
Spread between prices: 1.697%
steempy wallet is in .local/share/steem/steem.sqlite
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Some references I’ve used to build my Witness node and Seed node.
- List of Steem Nodes – http://steemistry.com/nodes/ and alternative sites https://www.steem.center/index.php?title=Public_Websocket_Servers
- Conductor – is a user friendly, KISS utility for creating, updating and management of your witness.
- @drakos Guide – https://busy.org/witness-category/@drakos/tips-and-guidelines-for-the-noob-witness-setup
- From the official GitHub page – Building Steem
- Complete Witness Installation Guide by @krnel
- The Complete Noob Guide to STEEM Witness Setup by @kyle
- Your Guide to Setting up a Witness Server @someguy123
- Steem Feed JS – https://github.com/Someguy123/steemfeed-js/
- A really gentle guide to be coming a witness by @personz
- Witness Schedule’s https://steem.bitcoiner.me/schedule/?c=show200
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Useful Tools
- https://yehey.org just another STEEM blockchain website (condenser) by @yehey (at your service)
- https://steemd.com/@yehey by @roadscape
- https://steemdb.com/@yehey by @jesta (currently down, DB migration in progress)
- https://steemian.info/witnesses by @drakos
- https://steemnow.com/@yehey by penguinpablo
- I will continue to update page. Let me know if you have something to share, or simply use the form below to post.
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